Space Angels: find the Gift (complete)

●•·ƬӇЄ ЄD0Ɲ SƐƇƬ0Ʀ·•● ~ ChapterFifty-Three

The Marbles

53 – the demon inversion

Fereshte and Jango sat in silence within the pink interior of Borak's living spaceship body, both deep in thought.

Borak had woken from his meditation in a practical mood. They had dropped Sofiel off at Ecad's dwelling and had laid the unconscious Benji on a long padded pew, while Sofiel sat at Ecad's grand piano studying the coded sheet of music. Then Borak flew Fereshte and Jango away from Edon's atmosphere and into the blackness of its surrounding system.

Crossing the Edon Sector, Borak had laid out all that had happened in the mission so far. It soon became clear how busy he'd been with his own mission parameters up in space. Borak's priority was to contact Kaelestia – he had to update Dominion F'cnta on their mission's progress – but Stygien had had breached the Edon Sector's security. A tracking bug of his own design, attached to Malik's enormous Missum crystal, monitored the Virtue's communications, and even intercepted any messages from Kaelestia and the Bright One.

The little bug would redirect anything Borak sent to Kaelestia – straight to Stygien.

He had removed Malik from his post and had judged the traitor Vetala, whose death had freed Malik's Seraphim from enchantment – save two, who were unable to shake off their glamours and still floated aimlessly in their green buffers.

Fereshte had easily influenced Edon minds when she was in the desert, and was not too concerned at unscrambling Malik's Seraphim. But unravelling the mind of a Virtue was a serious challenge for any Seraph to undertake. Malik's own corruption was deep and it would take an intensive Mind Correction.

Fereshte was appalled that a Seraph had betrayed the Bright One – Vetala had turned his wings to serve Stygien – but Borak reassured her.

"It's unlikely Vetala was truly a Seraph, Fereshte. He was more probably a demon who imitated Malik's unfortunate servant by foul means. There are a few possibilities – each clan has different methods – but he was undoubtedly a demon of some sort, perhaps with the power to overtake a being and either destroy it from the inside, or dominate its body so it will do things against its will. This first type of possession could last for centuries with species with a long lifespan, while the second type is a short-term possession: a being simply used to achieve a task and then discarded to take the blame for the act the demon committed. I analysed Vetala before I judged him and it was not the second kind of possession."

"So Vetala was killed long ago by a demon with the power to enchant?"

"Yes, although, it could've been a polymorph – a creature that can copy any being's essence and become that being, whether it is alive or dead – but that's rare. The key thing is that Stygien thinks Vetala is still alive as long as his remains are in the dome. It is a sacred placed insulated from any interference and immune to his tracking. But Stygien will become suspicious if Vetala never leaves the dome. Inside Malik's room, among the dust that was Vetala, there is a tracker and some kind of transmitting and receiving device he was using. I suspect it was an earpiece hidden by his long locks – a Lǽran would never serve a demon – they were not destroyed because they were not flesh. You must retrieve the tracker and earpiece before you can impersonate him."

"How can I do that? The only way we can imitate a being is if the chronica globe has saved their Quintessence in the catalogue of creatures."

"Yes, Fereshte, it is."

She could sense amusement in Borak's voice and at once she realised what he had done. Borak had judged Vetala the demon who had stolen the life of a loyal Kaelestian Seraph but he had extracted the pure essence, or Quintessence, of the original uncorrupted Vetala, had placed it in the catalogue of creatures, and had discarded the demon. It was a masterstroke.

When Stygien next contacted Malik pretending to be the Bright One he would also check with Vetala to confirm Borak and the cadre were 'disappeared' and Vetala was the relay between Stygien's Imps, Minions and Commanders on the planet Edon. She would have to make a good job of it, but the cadre would have their own spy – a direct line to Stygien himself.

She marvelled at Borak's cunning and ingenuity, yet still felt the loss of Vetala's life. She would avenge him by carrying out Borak's plan to outwit the Dark Lord. They had less than two days to prepare before Stygien's next fake broadcast and his servants on Edon were probably expecting updates from Vetala already. Fereshte would have to be swift and thorough. She added Vetala's Quintessence to her pool of creatures. She would study his memories before she impersonated him.

She wondered how Sofiel was progressing with her decryption of Ecad's code, which revealed the location of a Gift Shrine. They still only had two parts of the gift while Cylvah was searching for the final piece near the House of Ten. Sofiel's tracking wasp had recorded the conversation between Kaleb and his commander before it had failed. The pair were to visit the House of Ten too. This was not a coincidence and justified Jango's decision to send Cylvah there to reconnoitre the venue. Fereshte sighed and looked over to Jango. He stared vacant at the view on the circular display their Lǽrans had created on Borak's inner walls. A halo of rocks loomed in the distance, and she wondered if she had been too harsh with him. And if his task was even harder than hers.